Discussion Guide

Teaching Point:
The journey of self-discovery is a key element of adolescence and God’s word holds the key.

Opening Questions:
Who are you, really? Do you sometimes wonder if you even know yourself? Are you sometimes impatient to be grown up? Do you think it will all become clear once you turn 18? 21? 30?

Discussion:
“Wake Me Up” by Avicii seems to be a song about finding yourself. That search can be very frustrating when you’re a teenager with adults giving you mixed messages… “Act like an adult/be a kid while you can.”

As followers of Christ we have the advantage of being able to discover our purpose in Christ. But, as Rick Warren said in Purpose Driven Life, “Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.”

Colossians 1:16b (MSG) says, “Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.” Ephesians 1:11 (MSG) says, “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for...”

Self-identity is tied to purpose, which is tied to God. Without Him, we struggle to find either one. Well-known atheist Bertrand Russell said, “Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.”

The thought of life with no purpose is very unappealing to pretty much everyone. The lyrics of this song seem to reflect a longing to find ultimate purpose and meaning in life but being frustrated by a subtle “lostness.”

Conclusion:
Finding such a hopeless lyric in a fun and unique song is a little ironic. This fusion of EDM and bluegrass (in itself a little ironic) is fun to listen to, but expresses a common struggle among those who don’t know Christ or Christians who don’t realize what we have in Him. Look beyond the struggle to the One who made us for a purpose!